Wednesday, July 26, 2017

TRACK EIGHT: "Any Time At All" VS. "What Goes On"

There is a reel to reel tape, somewhere out there, of me and my cousins singing the chorus of "What Goes On in three part harmony. We couldn't have been more than 12 years old, but it wasn't bad. I always loved that song...then. But honestly, this is Ringo filler if there ever was Ringo filler. George's playing on the verses...or should I say, barely playing...always intrigued me. Still not enough to even make this Lennon throwaway with a Macca-Starkey co-write close.

I don't even think "What Goes On" should have made the album. I prefer the previous LP's unreleased song they had Ringo sing, "If You've Got Troubles." I wish they'd dusted off that one instead and completed it. Fit their style better, too. I think the side should have opened with "Girl" and then they could have tucked that song at the end, along with the others they weren't crazy about.

Anytime At All- a great song, though with a piano/guitar break that could have been better. Bonus: we get to hear John single tracked briefly as the verse lines overlap. What Goes On: weak Beatles song = not bad for many other groups. Anytime At All, easily!

Or rather, "Any Time Atall" since John blurs the last two words into one in a very British manner. Any time a'tall!

And what a weird, goofy, awesome mix of piano and guitar sounding woozy and off-key or at least meandering in a strange and lovely way. Again, pay attention and it's kind of insane but the Beatles make it sound perfectly reasonable and natural and you don't think twice.

I'm tempted to vote for What Goes On, which I've always liked and which I think is underrated, just to keep this from being unanimous. Except that Any Time at All is just so obviously better.

Not long ago I was reading a piece on the web arguing that the US version of Rubber Soul was better than the UK version, because the US version sounded more cohesive even though it was a Capitol cut and paste job. I've never actually listened to them back to back, but I think I do prefer the US track list. Better put on my asbestos suit for the inevitable flames...

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